Intrigued By the Carnivore Diet? The Carnivore Cookbook Explains the Benefits & Myths!

This spin-off of keto will feed your primal side. 🥩

For our June Keto Book Club selection, we’ve chosen The Carnivore Cookbook by Maria & Craig Emmerich. While there are over 100 delicious Carnivore recipes, this book offers loads of insight on this meat-based eating lifestyle. Trust us, there is so much more to the Carnivore Diet than just eating ribeye steaks (even though that doesn’t sound so bad! 😆)

Here are my key takeaways from The Carnivore Cookbook –

Chapter 1: The Science Behind the Carnivore Diet

This chapter really dives into the technical aspects of the Carnivore Diet and helps to answer all of the questions related to the science of the diet and how it affects your body.

Much like the keto diet, the Carnivore Diet uses fats for energy, which is our body and brain’s most efficient energy source. There are so many great health benefits that come with the carnivore way of eating, too!

Here are a few benefits of the Carnivore Diet:

• It simplifies eating – no guessing which foods are allowed, it keeps it basic and follows the diet of our ancestors comprised of mostly animal proteins.

• Decreased inflammation from limiting carbs and grains while focusing on fats.

• It can cure leaky gut and reverse insulin resistance which many Americans are struggling with these days. You’ll not only lose body fat but your insulin resistance can even be reversed! That’s pretty amazing if you ask me. 🙌

Let’s dispel some myths about meat…

I know what you’re thinking… is that much meat really good for me to eat all of the time? Authors Maria and Craig dive into the results of studies regarding meat consumption and its suggested correlation to heart disease and cancer.

It’s rather intriguing to learn that the studies often manipulate and omit key data that points to the fact that the Carnivore way of life is actually beneficial.

In one study, the data showed that people who ate more meat actually had better health than those who ate more wheat in their daily diets. That is so contradictory to what we have been led to believe all along! 🤯

Here’s an interesting fact from The Carnivore Cookbook:

You can eat 460 hot dogs and they will contain fewer nitrates than you would get from just one serving of arugula.

According to the book there is no difference between the nitrates in processed meats and the nitrates in vegetables. Wow, who knew?! It’s kind of surprising that a plant-based food could contain as much as these meats.

On top of that, nitrates are always a buzz word and something that we’ve been taught to avoid, as nitrates are most commonly associated with bacon, deli meats, hot dogs, and other processed meats.

Chapter 2: Implementing a Carnivore Diet

I guess you’re probably wondering what you CAN eat on the Carnivore Diet? Well, there are some similarities to keto but with a focus on animal proteins.

According to the Emmerich’s, there are four phases/levels of the Carnivore Diet. I liken this to how there is strict keto, lazy keto, clean keto, and dirty keto, so basically, you do you and choose which one works best for you and your lifestyle!

Carnivore Diet Phases/Levels:

If weight loss is your goal, The Carnivore Cookbook suggests following Level 1 or Level 2 of the Carnivore Diet for best results as they remove dairy and eggs, which often cause people to stall when following a ketogenic diet.

I love how The Carnivore Cookbook outlines reasons why the Carnivore diet works and offers facts about how it helps with fat loss, what to do if you hit a stall, and gives a road map for the carnivore autoimmune protocol for healing (CAIP).

By following this protocol it can help manage conditions such as ADHD, Alzheimer’s Disease, Asthma, Inflammation, Fibromyalgia, and many more. That sure is a testament to the power of this way of eating and the positive effects it can have on your body!

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably already following or considering starting the ketogenic diet. Well, The Carnivore Cookbook even has advice on how to transition from keto to carnivore and what changes you can expect once you make the switch.

There’s even a small section on the best supplements, how to store meats, and top gadgets they recommend. 🙌 So even though it’s tempting to skip right to all of the delicious recipes, be sure and go through the first two chapters as there is so much valuable information available there!

We’re so excited to keep digging through The Carnivore Cookbook and finding all it has to offer! We hope you’ll pick up a copy and join our book club to read along with us, too!

Speaking of beef, here’s our favorite way to cook a steak!